The invention concerns a method for controlling analytical and adjustment operations of a microscope. The invention further concerns an arrangement for controlling analytical and adjustment operations of a microscope that has multiple detectors for converting optical signals into electrical signals. In addition, the invention concerns a software program on a data medium and is utilized to control analytical and adjustment operations of a microscope.
When work is performed at a microscope, image details (which differ according to the application) keep appearing in the user's field of view. In present-day systems, the user analyzes these image details during measurement, marks them with a suitable graphical mechanism on the screen, and selects the desired function.
A few examples of such actions are: a) statistical analysis of local properties of images and volumetric image stacks (profiles, histograms, co-localizations, material roughness); b) observation of physiological reactions of living cells and individual compartments (parts of a cell distinguishable in terms of metabolism/structure) thereof; c) zoom operations; d) alignment of the image field; e) control of actuators; f) definition of locally differing excitation and detection parameters; and g) automated control operations with the aid of geometry data. Standard microscope systems make available for this purpose appropriate geometry models (polygons, rectangles, in general “regions of interest” (ROIs)) which the user defines. This usually requires a time-consuming interactive process. The region is drawn with the mouse on the display of a computer system. It is then made available to the corresponding automation function.
The publication of P. Wedekind, U. Kubitschek, and R. Peters: Scanning microphotolysis: a new photobleaching technique based on fast intensity modulation of a scanned laser beam and confocal imaging, in Journal of Microscopy, Vol. 176, Pt. 1, October 1994, pp. 2333, discloses a capability for superimposing geometric elements on an acquired image of a specimen. The geometric elements are, for example, circles, ellipses, polygons, or rectangles. These regions defined in this fashion are differently illuminated on the sample, and because of the energy transport associated therewith, bring about changes in the sample.
The publication of D. Demandolx and J. Davoust, Multicolor analysis and local image correlation in confocal microscopy, in Journal of Microscopy, Vol. 185, Pt. 1, January 1987, pp. 2136, discloses a plurality of analytical methods in scanning microscopy. The individual analyses require both a geometric selection of the specimen to be analyzed and geometric selections in a specific analytical space (the cytofluorogram). The publication does not, however, propose any capability for marking specific sample regions for analysis. On the other hand, as will be made clear below, the analyses offer the capability of finding geometries.